A day before he was fired,
Three oranges in a meeting with four of us? No question - I give my oranges to the others.#leadership
— Andrew Mason (@andrewmason) February 27, 2013
On Feb. 28, to announce he was let go, he tweeted:
For Groupon Employees: jottit.com/v5wux/ (Apparently, sharing oranges is necessary but insufficient #leadership)
— Andrew Mason (@andrewmason) February 28, 2013
The Jottit note linked to his quirky resignation letter, the one that said, "I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding - I was fired today."
In hindsight, the "oranges meeting" sounds ominous. So the question is, what was the deal with the three oranges? And who could have been the four people asked to share them?
Here's a thought: Mason was replaced by chairman Eric Lefkofsky and director Ted Leonsis. So those three people would have been in Mason's final meeting at Groupon, presumably. Mason and Lefkofsky hold controlling interests in Groupon stock along with one other board director: Brad Keywell.
Mason + Lefkofsky + Leonsis + Keywell = four people.
We tweeted at Mason for a comment. We'll let you know if he replies.
In the meantime, TheStreet’s Chris Ciacciaone noted this:
@jim_edwards @andrewmason remember in the Godfather, oranges in a scene meant someone was going to die.Wonder if that was a clue here
— Chris Ciaccia (@Commodity_Bull) March 1, 2013